Kate Swenson: Autism, Parenting, Hope, and Healing (S5E13)

I have a great parent-to-parent conversation with my friend Kate Swenson (Finding Cooper's Voice). We share some of our best autism parenting stories that inspire hope and healing. Connect with Kate Swenson: Finding Cooper's Voice Check out Forever Boy About Kate Swenson: Kate is Cooper's mom, the founder of Finding Cooper's Voice, and the author of the new book Forever Boy. *** Join my free online community to discuss this episode: click here *** You can find all my information here. Mentioned in this episode: Just two Dads Podcast Shawn Francis and Brian Altounian host "Just two Dads." A weekly conversation with two dads about raising children with special needs. Listen, every Wednesday at 12PM PST. Find them on Facebook and anywhere you get your podcasts. Just two Dads Podcast Learn More About Trail Magik Communing with nature is one of the best methods of self-care available, and hiking is one of the best ways to enjoy nature. If you’re a parent who enjoys hitting the trails with your little ones, you’re already aware that toddlers will walk some of the journey and want carried the rest of the way. There are tons of contraptions for carrying babies while on the trails, but what about those in between, toddler years? You don’t want to bring a big bulky carrier for a kid who’s only going to use it some of the time. The Trail Magik Kid Carrier solves that problem and does so brilliantly. Invented by a Dad who wanted to take his 3-year-old backpacking. It’s for kiddos 12 months up to 43 pounds. The carrier attaches onto hiking backpacks and durable daypacks that have a waist strap & upper loaders. Weighing less than 10oz, it’s so portable, you can stuff it into the side of your backpack when not in use. It’s a game-changer for the "outdoor adventure family" community. For more information, visit TrailMagik.com. Use the code "theautismdad" at check out and save 10% of your order. Visit Trail Magik Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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When your child needs acute residential care (feat Mike Rowley) S5E12

My guest today is the Administrator of Springbrook Autism Behavioral Health, Mike Rowley. I recorded this while on-site at The Converge Autism Summit in Greenville, South Carolina. Mike and I have a conversation all about the Springbrook facility. We talk about why a child may need acute residential care, and what happens when they do. We talked about the unimaginable struggles facing families when a child's behavior cannot be managed safely in the home. I've been there, and I wouldn't wish that on any child or parent. If you're looking for this type of help for your family, or maybe know someone who is, there's a lot of valuable information in this episode. About Springbrook Autism Behavioral Health. About Mike Rowley: CEO at Springbrook Behavioral Health. Springbrook is a 112-bed facility offering short-term acute psychiatric services for adults (44 beds) and a residential treatment center for children with autism and behavioral challenges(68 beds) Mentioned in this episode: Learn More About Mightier Mightier is a clinically proven mobile gaming app that was developed at Boston Children’s Hospital. It’s already helped more than 100,000 kids, including my crew here at home. Kids play on a tablet or a phone while wearing a heart rate monitor. And Mightier incorporates breathing exercises and other calming techniques as part of the game. Kids get to see when it’s time to cool down and learn how to do it themselves. And parents get to track their progress. Visit mightier.com and use the promo code "theautismdad22" at checkout to save 10%. Visit Mightier Just two Dads Podcast Shawn Francis and Brian Altounian host "Just two Dads." A weekly conversation with two dads about raising children with special needs. Listen, every Wednesday at 12PM PST. Find them on Facebook and anywhere you get your podcasts. Just two Dads Podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Tips for traveling with your autistic kids (feat. Dawn M. Barclay) S5E11

Join my new community and discuss this and other episodes of The Autism Dad Podcast with others. It's totally free, and I'd love your feedback. Join Now. My guest today is Dawn Barclay, and she's here to share tips and tricks to make traveling with our autistic kids safe, fun, and enjoyable. She wrote a new book called Traveling Different: Vacation Strategies for Parents of the Anxious, the Inflexible, and the Neurodiverse (will release Aug 15th). Dawn and I have a conversation about some common challenges families face when trying to travel with their autistic, anxious, or otherwise neurodiverse child. She provides no-nonsense solutions, ideas, and advice to help make travel a rewarding experience for the whole family. She also talks about how to evaluate hotels, theme parks, and other places prior to arrival. This is a great episode, especially as we get into the summer months. Check out Dawn's information below to learn more and pre-order the book. Dawn M. Barclay Dawn M. Barclay is an award-winning author who has spent a 30+ year career working in different aspects of the travel industry. After attending Tufts University, she worked in sales, marketing, and management for her parents' firms, Barclay Travel Ltd. and Barclay International Group Short Term Apartment and Villa Rentals. Next, she branched out into travel trade reporting, with senior or contributing editor positions at Travel Agent Magazine, Travel Life, Travel Market Report, and most recently, Insider Travel Report. Dawn holds degrees in psychology and marketing, is a mother of two, and lives in New York's scenic Hudson Valley. She also writes fiction as D.M. Barr and holds leadership roles in several writer organizations. http://www.dawnbarclayink.com   Pre-Order her book on Amazon. Find me at theautismdad.com Join my new community and discuss this and other episodes of The Autism Dad Podcast with others. It's totally free, and I'd love your feedback. Join Now. Mentioned in this episode: Just two Dads Podcast Shawn Francis and Brian Altounian host "Just two Dads." A weekly conversation with two dads about raising children with special needs. Listen, every Wednesday at 12PM PST. Find them on Facebook and anywhere you get your podcasts. Just two Dads Podcast Learn More About Mightier Mightier is a clinically proven mobile gaming app that was developed at Boston Children’s Hospital. It’s already helped more than 100,000 kids, including my crew here at home. Kids play on a tablet or a phone while wearing a heart rate monitor. And Mightier incorporates breathing exercises and other calming techniques as part of the game. Kids get to see when it’s time to cool down and learn how to do it themselves. And parents get to track their progress. Visit mightier.com and use the promo code "theautismdad22" at checkout to save 10%. Visit Mightier Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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My Conversation with Temple Grandin (feat. Dr. Temple Grandin) S5E10

*** Join my free online community to discuss this episode: click here *** Dr. Temple Grandin is here today to help parents prepare their autistic kids for the workforce. This is so important as our kids get older. Temple has a ton of very specific advice, insight, and experience that she will share over the next 30 minutes. We also talk about helping to manage our kid’s sensory needs. Temple is an amazing human being, and I was lucky enough to sit down with her at The National Converge Autism Summit by Springbrook Autism Behavioral Health in Greenville, South Carolina. It was such an honor to meet her, and I learned so much from our time together. You can find more information about Temple Grandin by clicking here As mentioned, you can find Kate Swenson’s book Forever Boy here. You can find me here. This episode is sponsored by: Mentioned in this episode: Learn More About Mightier Mightier is a clinically proven mobile gaming app that was developed at Boston Children’s Hospital. It’s already helped more than 100,000 kids, including my crew here at home. Kids play on a tablet or a phone while wearing a heart rate monitor. And Mightier incorporates breathing exercises and other calming techniques as part of the game. Kids get to see when it’s time to cool down and learn how to do it themselves. And parents get to track their progress. Visit mightier.com and use the promo code "theautismdad22" at checkout to save 10%. Visit Mightier Learn More About zPods zPods is the first U.S.-based company to provide kids with a customizable, sensory-friendly sleeping pod. These regenerative spaces come jam-packed with features such as intelligent lighting control, white noise generation, Bluetooth speakers, and more. With these tools, we believe that children can find better sleep, which means parents can sleep better as well. Visit https://zpods.tech fro more information. Visit zPods Learn More About Tracto Tracto is a free app that is all about empowering parents to better understand and meet the unique needs of their kids with autism, ADHD or anxiety. Tracto does this by easily allowing for the collaborative tracking of behaviors over time. Parents can invite teachers or anyone else they want to help document behavioral changes. Not everyone sees the same things because every environment is different. Being able to document behaviors in realtime, prevents having to pull from memory later on, making it more accurate, and reliable information. Tracking things like sleep patterns, medication-related behavioral changes, behaviors in the classroom, or anything else that parents of these amazing kiddos need to keep an eye on, can be challenging. Simply put, Tracto makes it easy. All tracking and collaboration functions to this app are completely free. They also offer affordable online courses, taught by leading experts if you’re interested in learning some new parenting skills yourself. They’re short videos that will teach you new parenting approaches and help you gain more insight into your child. You can get more information about Tracto at tracto.app. Or check out the Google Play or Apple app store. Use the code “theautismdad” at checkout and save 30% off your online course order. Visit Tracto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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The Ultimate Guide to Understanding and Avoiding Parental Burnout (feat. Dr. Searcy-Pate) S5E9

My guest today is Dr. Searcy-Pate and we're having a very important discussion about parental burnout. In this episode, we're going to discuss the risk factors, signs, and symptoms of burnout. As well as what to do if you're experiencing it, and how you can do to reduce your risk. Please share this episode with your friends and loved ones. Background: Dr. Searcy-Pate earned both her graduate degrees in Clinical Psychology from Johns Hopkins University and Jackson State University. In addition, she completed specialized training in child/pediatric psychology at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota as well as the Department of Defense. As a Child/Pediatric Health Psychologist and credentialed diabetes mental health provider by the American Diabetes Association, she collaborates with parents, schools, primary care providers, and specialty providers to provide assessment, therapy, and consultation services. Get more information and connect with Dr. Searcy-Pate at the link below. searcypediatrics.org Find me at listen.theautismdad.com Mentioned in this episode: BrainyAct BrainyAct® provides tech-enabled, patent-pending therapy programs delivered via gamification for neurological disorders such as Autism, Asperger’s, Dyslexia, and ADHD. BrainyAct activates the underdeveloped areas of the brain through exercises that strategically target a child’s balance, gravity, gross/fine motor, rhythm and timing, visual motor perception, and memory. Putting hope in motion means putting your family first in everything we do and using movement to affect real change. Shifting hope to a reality. 91% of families report global brain improvements after four months. Our company was built on the premise to create real, measurable, and visible change that shows you how your child is improving through data. BrainyAct is for homes and schools. Visit Kinuu.com. Use promo code THEAUTISMDAD and save $500. This is a limited time offer. Visit BrainyAct Happy Ladders Happy Ladders is Parent-Led Early Autism Therapy that empowers you, the parent, to teach your toddler essential developmental skills through play. Studies have shown that the parent-led model is highly effective while eliminating frustration over long wait lists, or the worry about losing precious developmental time. All without the disruption of people coming into your home Happy Ladders includes activities that target 150+ essential developmental skills every toddler needs as well as assessments in 4 different developmental areas. There’s also an exclusive community of parents just like you, and professional coaching to ensure success for both you and your toddler. To learn more, get a free trial, and take advantage of an exclusive, limited-time offer for my listeners, visit happyladders.com. Use the code "theautismdad" at checkout to save 50% off the monthly membership. Plus get a free one-on-one session as well as access to the Tantrums and Meltdowns mini-course. This is a limited-time offer so act now. Visit Happy Ladders The Calm Compass Check out these courses: The CALM Compass is a practical parenting tool that has four directions for you to choose (CONNECT, ARTICULATE, LIFT and MOVE). Each of these directions points you towards specific skills and strategies you will use in everyday situations. For instance, how to respond to a meltdown; how to prepare and plan for problems; or how to help mediate challenging transitions. Visit thecalmcompass.com and use the code "theautismdad" to save 10% Visit The Calm Compass Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Autistic Voices (feat. Sam Mitchell of Autism Rocks and Rolls) S5E8

My guest today is Sam Mitchell. Sam is a 19-year-old young man who is college bound, majoring in media and entrepreneurship. He found his niche and love in podcasting in high school when he joined his high school's media club. Podcasting became his passion and he started his own, Autism Rocks and Rolls. Sam and I have a great conversation about all of the amazing things he's doing with Autism Rocks and Rolls. You can find Sam at: https://autismrocksandrolls.com Mentioned in this episode: Learn More About Mightier Mightier is a clinically proven mobile gaming app that was developed at Boston Children’s Hospital. It’s already helped more than 100,000 kids, including my crew here at home. Kids play on a tablet or a phone while wearing a heart rate monitor. And Mightier incorporates breathing exercises and other calming techniques as part of the game. Kids get to see when it’s time to cool down and learn how to do it themselves. And parents get to track their progress. Visit mightier.com and use the promo code "theautismdad22" at checkout to save 10%. Visit Mightier Happy Ladders Happy Ladders is Parent-Led Early Autism Therapy that empowers you, the parent, to teach your toddler essential developmental skills through play. Studies have shown that the parent-led model is highly effective while eliminating frustration over long wait lists, or the worry about losing precious developmental time. All without the disruption of people coming into your home Happy Ladders includes activities that target 150+ essential developmental skills every toddler needs as well as assessments in 4 different developmental areas. There’s also an exclusive community of parents just like you, and professional coaching to ensure success for both you and your toddler. To learn more, get a free trial, and take advantage of an exclusive, limited-time offer for my listeners, visit happyladders.com. Use the code "theautismdad" at checkout to save 50% off the monthly membership. Plus get a free one-on-one session as well as access to the Tantrums and Meltdowns mini-course. This is a limited-time offer so act now. Visit Happy Ladders Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Listening to Autistic Adults (feat. Dennis Procopio) pt1 S5E7

My guest today is Dennis Procopio. Dennis is a life coach for men and an autism Dad. He's been on the show a few times and he's here today to talk about Dad stuff and share some autism parenting stories. This is a great conversation and ends up going to a place I hadn't seen coming. Dennis opens up about his personal journey raising his son and learning more about himself. ☺ Find Dennis: MAN-UP! Life Coaching About Rob Gorski: All my information and relevant links are here Support this podcast: venmo.com/theautismdad Mentioned in this episode: BrainyAct BrainyAct® provides tech-enabled, patent-pending therapy programs delivered via gamification for neurological disorders such as Autism, Asperger’s, Dyslexia, and ADHD. BrainyAct activates the underdeveloped areas of the brain through exercises that strategically target a child’s balance, gravity, gross/fine motor, rhythm and timing, visual motor perception, and memory. Putting hope in motion means putting your family first in everything we do and using movement to affect real change. Shifting hope to a reality. 91% of families report global brain improvements after four months. Our company was built on the premise to create real, measurable, and visible change that shows you how your child is improving through data. BrainyAct is for homes and schools. Visit Kinuu.com. Use promo code THEAUTISMDAD and save $500. This is a limited time offer. Visit BrainyAct Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Parenting with Purpose (feat. Mitch Leppicello, LICSW) S5E6

I'm excited to bring you another episode about empowering parents to better help their autistic children. My guest today is Mitch Leppicello. Mitch is a social worker who's spent decades working with autistic kids and their families. Mitch has used his experience to create a program called The Calm Compass. The Calm Compass is an online resource for parents of autistic children, helping them to better navigate difficult situations, as well as gain insight, and outside-of-the-box solutions for everyday challenges. I'm a huge fan of empowering parents and unfortunately, many of these things weren't available to me when I was first starting out. The Calm Compass is a fantastic resource for parents and I hope you enjoy the show. Learn more about Mitch and The Calm Compass by clicking here. Find me at theautismdad.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Mentioned in this episode: Tracto Tracto is a free app that is all about empowering parents to better understand and meet the unique needs of their kids with autism, ADHD or anxiety. Tracto does this by easily allowing for the collaborative tracking of behaviors over time. Parents can invite teachers or anyone else they want to help document behavioral changes. Not everyone sees the same things because every environment is different. Being able to document behaviors in realtime, prevents having to pull from memory, later on, making it more accurate, and reliable information. Tracking things like sleep patterns, medication-related behavioral changes, behaviors in the classroom, or anything else that parents of these amazing kiddos need to keep an eye on, can be challenging. Simply put, Tracto makes it easy. All tracking and collaboration functions to this app are completely free. They also offer affordable online courses, taught by leading experts if you’re interested in learning some new parenting skills yourself. They’re short videos that will teach you new parenting approaches and help you gain more insight into your child. Visit tracto.app and use the code “theautismdad” at checkout and save 30% off your online course order. Visit Tracto BrainyAct BrainyAct® provides tech-enabled, patent-pending therapy programs delivered via gamification for neurological disorders such as Autism, Asperger’s, Dyslexia, and ADHD. BrainyAct activates the underdeveloped areas of the brain through exercises that strategically target a child’s balance, gravity, gross/fine motor, rhythm and timing, visual motor perception, and memory. Putting hope in motion means putting your family first in everything we do and using movement to affect real change. Shifting hope to a reality. 91% of families report global brain improvements after four months. Our company was built on the premise to create real, measurable, and visible change that shows you how your child is improving through data. BrainyAct is for homes and schools. Visit Kinuu.com. Use promo code THEAUTISMDAD and save $500. This is a limited time offer. Visit BrainyAct Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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How BrainyAct improves quality of life for autistic kids (feat. Dolly Lowery) S5E5

My guest today is Dolly Lowery. Dolly is the CEO and Founder of a company called Kinuu. She's here to talk about their program called BrainyAct and how it's literally changing the lives of autistic kiddos and adults. This is a perfect example of technology being used to improve quality of life. This is so cool and I can't wait for you to hear this. I love bringing information to you that can help or at least inform you as to things that are currently available to help your family. ☺ ♥ About Dolly: As an entrepreneur and hard worker, my underlying passion is to look for ways to make the world a better place. I had a successful 20+ career selling software and services in the US and Europe. After losing two siblings to brain cancer, I co-founded and launched Gilda’s Club Twin Cities, a place for families living with Cancer. As a Mom of three kids, I became familiar with the growing epidemic of neurological based learning challenges, such as ADHD and Dyslexia. With over 1200 clinic visits, I know firsthand how difficult it can be to juggle demanding schedules and I was determined to find a way for families to have a program that was effective, affordable and convenient. After years of research combined with my background in technology, I assembled a team with the perfect combination of heart and experience to launch Kinuu. Together we will restore hope for families so that every child can achieve beyond what they dreamed possible and to truly believe in themselves. Learn more about BrainyAct and get information to provide your school or local community center: Kinuu.com Check out these short videos: https://vimeo.com/kinuu/brainyact3moms https://vimeo.com/kinuu/sciencebehindbrainyact You can find me at theautismdad.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Mentioned in this episode: Learn More About Shelley Kenow I know how frustrating and scary and overwhelming IEP meetings can be. I want to connect you with my friend, Shelly Keno. She is an IEP coach with over 30 years of experience in special education. IEP meetings don't have to be scary. It's so important that we empower ourselves with knowledge and insights so that we can better navigate these difficult situations and work together with the school for the betterment of our kids. So if you're interested in learning about what Shelley does visit shelleykenow.com, and use the code, "theautismdad" to save $7 off of an IEP review. Visit Shelley Kenow Learn More About Mightier Mightier is a clinically proven mobile gaming app that was developed at Boston Children’s Hospital. It’s already helped more than 100,000 kids, including my crew here at home. Kids play on a tablet or a phone while wearing a heart rate monitor. And Mightier incorporates breathing exercises and other calming techniques as part of the game. Kids get to see when it’s time to cool down and learn how to do it themselves. And parents get to track their progress. Visit mightier.com and use the promo code "theautismdad22" at checkout to save 10%. Visit Mightier Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Tyson’s Run (feat Actor Major Dodson and Writer/Director Kim Bass) S5E4

I'm so excited about this week's episode. I was recently able to screen the upcoming film Tyson's Run. It's an inspirational family film about an autistic boy named Tyson, who decided he wants to run a marathon in order to repair his family. It's such a good, family film and it releases in theaters nationwide on March 11th. My guests today are Major Dodson, who plays Tyson, and Kim Bass. who wrote and directed the film. They stopped by the pod to talk about the inspiration behind Tyson's Run, what it was like filming it, and what lessons they learned along the way. This was such a fun experience for me and I can't wait for you to listen. Tyson's Run is rated PG and will release in theaters nationwide on March 11th. Learn more about the film Tyson's Run and view the trailer by clicking here. Check out Major Dodson on IMDb by clicking here. Check out Kim Bass on IMDb by clicking here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Mentioned in this episode: Learn More About Mightier Mightier is a clinically proven mobile gaming app that was developed at Boston Children’s Hospital. It’s already helped more than 100,000 kids, including my crew here at home. Kids play on a tablet or a phone while wearing a heart rate monitor. And Mightier incorporates breathing exercises and other calming techniques as part of the game. Kids get to see when it’s time to cool down and learn how to do it themselves. And parents get to track their progress. Visit mightier.com and use the promo code "theautismdad22" at checkout to save 10%. Visit Mightier Learn More About Trail Magik Communing with nature is one of the best methods of self-care available, and hiking is one of the best ways to enjoy nature. If you’re a parent who enjoys hitting the trails with your little ones, you’re already aware that toddlers will walk some of the journey and want carried the rest of the way. There are tons of contraptions for carrying babies while on the trails, but what about those in between, toddler years? You don’t want to bring a big bulky carrier for a kid who’s only going to use it some of the time. The Trail Magik Kid Carrier solves that problem and does so brilliantly. Invented by a Dad who wanted to take his 3-year-old backpacking. It’s for kiddos 12 months up to 43 pounds. The carrier attaches onto hiking backpacks and durable daypacks that have a waist strap & upper loaders. Weighing less than 10oz, it’s so portable, you can stuff it into the side of your backpack when not in use. It’s a game-changer for the "outdoor adventure family" community. For more information, visit TrailMagik.com. Use the code "theautismdad" at check out and save 10% of your order. Visit Trail Magik Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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